The present invention relates to an inhalant medicator suitable to prescribe granular or powdered medicines toward and within lungs of a patient by way of breathing action of the patient, and particularly to a blister pack suitable for the inhalant medicator.
Generally, there are two methods of prescribing medical powder toward and within lungs of an asthmatic patient, that is, one being a method by which a medicine is inhaled by way of a liquid aerosol atomizer, and the other being an inhalation treatment by way of which granular or powdered medicines (which will be hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cmedical powderxe2x80x9d) encapsulated in a capsule or stored in a medical powder storage chamber are inhaled.
Of these methods for an asthmatic patient, an inhalant medicator used for an inhalation treatment where a dose of medical powder is inhaled, is generally constructed of: (a) a medicator body including a capsule housing chamber (or a medical powder storage chamber) at one axial end and equipped at the other axial end with an inhalant port through which the medical powder is inhaled, (b) an air passageway communicating the inhalant port with the atmosphere via the capsule housing chamber, and (c) a pricking tool which is provided for pricking holes in the capsule accommodated in the capsule housing chamber.
In recent years, there have been proposed and developed various inhalant medicators utilizing a blister pack having a set of blisters (a plurality of blistered medical powder storage chambers) spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction, for inhalant medication. Such inhalant medicators have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 59-88158 and 62-41668.
The inhalant medicator as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 59-88158 and 62-41668, includes a blister pack holder which holds a blister pack having a plurality of blisters circumferentially spaced apart from each other. The blister pack holder is rotatably mounted to a medicator body. Also, the blister pack installed on the holder consists of a base panel formed with a large number of blistered portions, a lid panel affixed onto the principal surface of the base panel and defining a plurality of medical powder storage chambers by hermetically covering the blistered portions of the base panel. A dose of medical powder is stored in each of the medical powder storage chambers.
In order to prescribe or administer the medical powder toward and within lungs of a patient by way of breathing action, first, the blister pack is installed on the pack holder of the inhalant medicator. Second, holes needed to intercommunicate the atmospheric side and the inhalant port via the internal space of the medical powder storage chamber are pricked by means of a single plunger having a needle-shaped pricking tip.
Under these conditions, when the patient draws his or her breath while taking the inhalant port in his or her mouth, air flow directed from the pricked holes through the medical powder storage chamber into the inhalant port enables medical powder stored in the medical powder storage chamber to be carried into the inhalant port. In this manner, medical powder stored in the storage chamber can be inhaled through the inhalant port into lungs of the patient.
In order to continuously perform inhalant medication, the blister pack is rotated by a predetermined angle together with the blister pack holder, and then the next medical powder storage chamber of the same blister pack is set at the pricking position. Thereafter, in the same manner described previously, a series of inhalant medication procedures are made. Thus, it is possible to consecutively dose a patient with a specified amount of medical powder by rotation of the blister pack holder without exchanging a capsule.
However, in the inhalant medicators as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 59-88158 and 62-41668, in order to prick holes in the medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack, a single needle-shaped plunger is used as the pricking tool. Thus, two holes, penetrating the medical powder storage chamber aligned to each other in a direction perpendicular to upper and lower surfaces of the blister pack, are pricked or pierced in one blistered portion of the blister pack. Air introduced into the medical powder storage chamber (the blistered portion) flows straight through the medical powder storage chamber from one (the inflow side) of the two pricked holes to the other (the outflow side). Actually, various sorts of medical powder having different characteristics or properties, such as a condensation property, a particle size (fine powder, granule, or the like) are used.
In the previously-described inhalant medicator with a single needle-shaped plunger, it is impossible to adequately diffuse medical powder in a medical powder storage chamber of a blister pack by way of such straight air flow (directed from one pricked hole to the other) in which there is less turbulence and thus the air stream direction is almost same, and which has a substantially constant flow velocity. Thus, some medical powder may be undesirably left in the medical powder storage chamber after prescribing the medical powder toward within lungs of a patient by breathing action. As a result of this, the patient cannot inhale a specified amount of medical powder into the lungs, thus lowering medical benefits of powdered or granular medicines.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an inhalant medicator, which avoids the aforementioned disadvantages.
It is another object of the invention to provide an inhalant medicator, which is capable of prescribing a specified amount of medical powder toward within lungs of a patient, while satisfactorily diffusing the medical powder stored in a medical powder storage chamber of a blister pack.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a blister pack suitable for an inhalant medicator, which enhances a medication efficiency, effectively diffusing medical powder stored in a medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack depending on characteristics or properties of the medical powder, such as a strong condensation property, and a particle size.
In order to accomplish the aforementioned and other objects of the present invention, an inhalant medicator comprises a medicator body including a holder mounting portion at one axial end and an inhalant port at the other axial end for inhalation of medical powder, a holder detachably rotatably mounted to the holder mounting portion and holding thereon a blister pack having a plurality of medical powder storage chambers spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction thereof, the medicator body having a portion defining an inflow air passage to supply atmosphere toward one of the plurality of medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack held on the holder which is mounted to the holder mounting portion, the medicator body having a portion defining an outflow air passage to flow out the medical powder stored in the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack held on the holder toward the inhalant port, and a pricking tool attached to the medicator body to prick an inflow hole and an outflow hole in the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack, so that the inflow hole is fluidly communicated with the inflow air passageway and the outflow hole is fluidly communicated with the outflow air passageway. The inflow and outflow holes are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance between a downstream end of the inflow air passageway and an upstream end of the outflow air passageway. It is preferable that the medicator body may comprise upper and lower medicator-body portions and a joining portion through which the upper and lower medicator-body portions are formed integral with each other, the upper and lower medicator-body portions defining therebetween a holder mounting groove which opens to three directions, and the holder comprising a disc-shaped holder so that the disc-shaped holder is inserted into and removed from within the holder mounting groove. More preferably, the medicator body has a protruded portion formed on the lower medicator-body portion which is a center of rotation of the holder, and the holder has a plurality of recessed fit portions each of which is formed on an upside of the holder and is fitted to one of the plurality of medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack, and the holder has a portion defining a guide groove which is formed on an underside of the holder to guide the protruded portion to the center of rotation of the holder. It is preferable that the inhalant medicator may further comprise a positioning mechanism provided between the holder mounting portion of the medicator body and the holder, for positioning the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack held on the holder at a predetermined pricking position of the pricking tool. More preferably, the positioning mechanism comprises a spring-loaded ball housed in a bore formed in the medicator body and closed at one end, and a spring operably disposed in the bore so as to bias the ball in a direction that causes a part of a spherical surface of the ball to be protruded through an opening end of the bore into the holder mounting groove.
According to another aspect of the invention, an inhalant medicator comprises a medicator body including a holder mounting portion at one axial end and an inhalant port at the other axial end for inhalation of medical powder, a holder detachably rotatably mounted to the holder mounting portion and holding thereon a blister pack having a plurality of blistered portions spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction thereof, the medicator body having a portion defining a pair of inflow air passages to supply atmosphere toward one of the plurality of blistered portions of the blister pack held on the holder which is mounted to the holder mounting portion, the medicator body having a portion defining a pair of outflow air passages to flow out the medical powder stored in the one blistered portion of the blister pack held on the holder toward the inhalant port, a pricking tool attached to the medicator body and having a pair of pins to prick upper and lower inflow holes and upper and lower outflow holes in the one blistered portion of the blister pack, so that the upper inflow hole is fluidly communicated with a first one of the inflow air passageways, the lower inflow hole is fluidly communicated with the second inflow air passageway, the upper outflow hole is fluidly communicated with a first one of the outflow air passageways, the lower outflow hole is fluidly communicated with the second outflow air passageway, the upper inflow and outflow holes being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance between a downstream end of the first inflow air passageway and an upstream end of the first outflow air passageway, and the lower inflow and outflow holes being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance between a downstream end of the second inflow air passageway and an upstream end of the second outflow air passageway.
According to a further aspect of the invention, an inhalant medicator comprises a medicator body including a holder mounting portion at one axial end and an inhalant port at the other axial end for inhalation of medical powder, a holder detachably rotatably mounted to the holder mounting portion and holding thereon a blister pack having a plurality of medical powder storage chambers spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction thereof, the medicator body having a portion defining an inflow air passage to supply atmosphere toward one of the plurality of medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack held on the holder which is mounted to the holder mounting portion, the medicator body having a portion defining an outflow air passage to flow out the medical powder stored in the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack held on the holder toward the inhalant port, a pricking means attached to the medicator body for pricking an inflow hole and an outflow hole in the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication, so that the inflow hole is fluidly communicated with the inflow air passageway and the outflow hole is fluidly communicated with the outflow air passageway, and the pricking means comprising a pair of parallel pins spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance smaller than a longitudinal length of each of the medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack, and the inflow and outflow holes are spaced apart from each other by the predetermined distance to produce turbulent air flow within the one medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack during the inhalant medication in which the medical powder is inhaled.
According to a still further aspect of the invention, a blister pack for an inhalant medicator comprises a base panel having a blistered portion, a lid panel affixed onto an obverse of the base panel to define a medical powder storage chamber by hermetically covering the blistered portion of the base panel, the blistered portion comprising a pair of substantially hemispherical convex portions in which inflow and outflow holes are pricked during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication, and a flow-constriction portion formed between the substantially hemispherical convex portions to define a flow-constriction orifice passage. It is preferable that the blister pack may further comprise flap valve disposed in the flow-constriction orifice passage.
According to another aspect of the invention, a blister pack for an inhalant medicator comprises a base panel having a blistered portion, a lid panel affixed onto an obverse of the base panel to define a medical powder storage chamber by hermetically covering the blistered portion of the base panel, the blistered portion comprising a pair of shallow pricked portions in which inflow and outflow holes are pricked during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication; and a medical powder collecting portion deeply recessed between the shallow pricked portions to pre-store medical powder therein.
According to another aspect of the invention, a blister pack for an inhalant medicator comprises a base panel having a blistered portion in which inflow and outflow holes are pricked during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication, a lid panel affixed onto an obverse of the base panel to define a medical powder storage chamber by hermetically covering the blistered portion of the base panel, and the blistered portion comprising a sloped surface which defines a shallow portion at a side of the inflow hole and defines a deep portion at a side of the outflow hole.
According to another aspect of the invention, a blister pack for an inhalant medicator comprises a base panel having a blistered portion in which inflow and outflow holes are pricked during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication, a lid panel affixed onto an obverse of the base panel to define a medical powder storage chamber by hermetically covering the blistered portion of the base panel, and the blistered portion comprising a sloped surface which defines a shallow portion at a side of the outflow hole and defines a deep portion at a side of the inflow hole.
The other objects and features of this invention will become understood from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.